This invention relates to automated materials handling apparatus, and, more particularly, to a machine that collects elongated articles into pairs and the pairs into bundles, and then stacks the bundles in an orderly fashion.
Many industrial processes produce elongated articles that must be handled in an orderly manner and stacked for delivery to the customer. In one example, steel is formed into U-shaped channel section pieces that are used as metal studs in construction. The sections are paired together after forming, with one of the channel pieces inverted with respect to the other. A convenient number of the pairs of pieces, typically five pairs, are bundled and banded. A number of the banded bundles are stacked on a conveyer or pallet.
Until now, the pairing, bundling, and stacking operations have been performed manually by a team of two workers. The work is physically demanding, and highly repetitious. The labor cost of the workers adds significantly to the cost of the product. There is therefore a need for a machine to perform the bundling and stacking operations, permitting the human workers to be assigned to more fulfilling tasks and reducing the cost of the delivered product. The machine must perform the operations in a satisfactory manner, and must be sufficiently sophisticated to accommodate variations in the product and stacking arrangement, and also avoid damage to the machine and the articles during stacking. The present invention fulfills this need, and further provides related advantages.